Shoe-rack.



G. BRWN, In.

SHOE RACK.

APPLICATION FILED APR.5.19H.

lp'mo Patented. Apr. 17, 191?.

llild S PATENT FFIEO SHOE-MCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patenten apr. aa. rara.

Application led April 5, 1911. Serial No. 619,057.

To all whom t may concern.

Be it known that l, GEORGE BROWN, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Lynn, county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an improvement in Shoe-Racks, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts. 1

This invention relates to shoe racks such as are used in shoe factories for transporting shoes 'from one part of the factory to another during the process of manufacture. The shoe rack which is now commonly used is provided with a plurality of fixed shelves or rows of shoe supports on which the shoes are sustained, and in the operation of making shoes a rack full of shoes which are at a certain stage of the .manufacture is brought up to a workmen who is operating some particular machine, and he takes the shoes one by one from the rack and performs on them the operation for which his machine is adapted, the rack of shoes thenl being passed on to the next operator who another operation on the shoes.

Oneof the objects of these shoe racks is to keep the shoes separated from each other While they are being carried from one workman to another in the factory, but it frequently happens that when a rack of shoes comes to any particular Workman, he will take a number of shoes simultaneously from the rack Pand dump them o n a bench near the machine which he is operating and after performing the operation on each shoe will gather up the several shoes and place them again in the rack. In thus -handling the shoes he is very apt to injure or mar them and thus he defeats one of the objectswhich the rack with its means for holding the shoes separated is supposed to secure.

The reason why a workman sometimes removes a plurality of shoes simultaneously from the rack and places them on his bench is because the machine which he is operating may be so situated that the rack cannot be brought near enough to it so that he can conveniently reach from the machine to the rack, or it may be that the particular operation which he is performing is one which must be done at a bench. i

l have provided' an improved shoe rack which is so constructed that a plurality of shoes can be removed therefrom and placed on a bench without any danger that the performs shelves, each having a plurality of shoe supports which keep the shoes separated so that the individual shelvescan be removed and placed on the bench in convenient position for the operation.

Referring to the drawings wherein l have illustrated one embodiment of my invention,`

Figure l is a side view of a rack embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a view showing one of the shelves removed;

Fig. 4 is a View showing a shelf support which can be used to sustain the shelf when it is removedfrom the rack.

My improved rack comprises a frame designated generally by 1 and herein shown as having the two end posts or uprights 2 which are suitably connected at the top by a top rail 3. rlhe rack is also shown as mounted on rolls 4 so that it may be readily Wheeled from one point to another. Ylhe particular construction of the frame, however, is not essential to the invention.

The frame is provided with a plurality of Vholder supports on which shoe holders are removably sustained, said holders being pro* vided with shoe-supporting members adapted to hold the shoes separated from each other. In the embodiment herein shown these supports are in the form of arms 5 ex# tending laterally from the end posts 2 and ll prefer to place the armsat a slight inclination, as shown best in Fig. 2, there being a set of arms at each end of the rack. The removable shoe holders may have any suitable Vconstruction adapted to ,be removably sustained by the supports 5. As herein shown each holder is formed with a frame 6 comprising the side rests or arms 7 and the longitudinally-extending member 8 which constitutes a toe rest and which connects the side members 7. The side arms or members 7 are adapted to rest on the supports or arms 5 andthe toe rest' member 8 extends from one end of the rack to the other. The shoes are sustained by pairs of shoe-positioning members 9 which extend laterally from the toe rest 8 and are constructed so as to support .the shoe in an inverted position, as clearly seen in Fig. 2. These positioning and shoe-supporting members may be made in any suitable way without departing from the invention. I have herein, however, shown them as formed from a piece of Wire which is bent into the shape shown best in Fig. 3 and which is secured to the toe rest 8 in any suitable way, as by means of screws 10. This wire 9 will preferably be fiat ribbon-like wire, although wire of any shape might be employed without departing from the invention.

The side members 7 are preferably provided with handles 11 by which the two ends of th'e shoe holder may be grasped to lift it from the rack.

I have also provided means for properly positioning the shoe holder on the rack, and while such means might have any appropriate construction, I have herein shown the supports 5 as provided with positioning proi jections 12 which are adapted to be received in recesses 13 formed in the under side of the arm 7.

vWhen the shoe holders 6 are in place on the rack, the rack has the appearance of an ordinary shoe rack and is provided on both sides with a plurality of rows of shoe su ports in which the shoes are adapted to e supported in usual manner with the top of the shoe situated between the supports of any pair and the toe of the shoe resting upon the toe rest 8. Each shoe holder 6, however, can be readily lifted from the rack and placed on a bench so ,as to put the shoes in a convenient position for the op- 'erator to handle them. In order not to mar the shoes, I prefer to employ a rest on the bench which is constructed to receive the shoe holder 6 and support it so that the shoes thereon will be out of contact with the bench and yet in convenient position for the operator to reach them.

While any suitable rest adapted for this purpose might be used, I prefer one such as shown in Fig. 4 and which comprises the two side members 20 on which the arms 7 of the holder 6 may be supported. These side'members 20 may. conveniently be secured to a base member 21 which is adapted to rest on the bench and by making the upper face 22 of each side member inclined downwardly toward the front edge, the holder 6 will be so sustained that the shoes will be in a convenient position-for the operator to remove them. I will preferably make each of the side members-20 with a.

my shoe rack the operator may pick each` shelf or holder off from the rack and carry it over to his bench and place it on the rest thereon, thus placing the lshoes in a convenient position for him to operate on them,

and while the shoes are thus supported on the bench they are held entirely separate from each other and all danger that the shoes will be rubbed against each other and marred is avoided.

It is not essential to the invention that the shelf or holder should be supported ona rest at the bench, for it would be within the invention if said shelf or holder were sustained from an overhead support or were supported in any suitable way within convenient reach of the operator. In some cases it may be convenient to provide the machine which the operator is using with a bracket or support on which the holder may be placed after it has been removed from the rack and while the operator is working on the shoes.

This invention is particularly advantageous during the process of' painting or blacking the soles of shoes, for a holder with the shoes thereon can be removed from the rack and supported on a bench or in any convenient position for an operator to rapidly paint the soles without removing the shoes from the holder.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

In a shoe rack, the combination with a frame having end uprights, of supporting GEORGE BROWN, JR.

Witnesses:

JAMES S. CASEY, WILLARDD. MARTIN. 

